Morning Coffee: Preseason setbacks add to doubts about Vikings playoff potential
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It was the moment that I had been waiting for all week.
Sure, it took a little longer than I wanted, but that didn’t take away from how sweet it was to watch it happen live.
Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run last night.
With the New York Yankees leading the Chicago White Sox 6-2 in the eighth inning, Judge sealed the victory with a three-run shot that put the game out of reach.
The third time was the charm for those of us who paired Judge to hit a home run with the Yankees run line in a Same Game Parlay for all three games in Chicago.
While the wait was longer than any of us really wanted, Judge still reached 300 career home runs faster than any other player in MLB history.
In fact, it wasn’t particularly close, as he beat out the previous record by 127 games.
That’s a remarkable number.
Judge also became the seventh different player to hit 300 home runs for the Yankees, joining Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Alex Rodriguez.
The AL MVP favourite at FanDuel is on pace for 57 home runs this season, which would mark the third time in his career that he hit at least 50 in a season.
In addition to leading the majors in home runs and RBI, Judge ranks second in all of baseball in batting average.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that the Yankees star slugger is down to -1100 to win AL MVP at FanDuel.
With the MLB postseason right around the corner, I’m looking forward to seeing how far Judge and Juan Soto can ultimately carry the pinstripes.
This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday, August 15th, 2024.
Preseason Setbacks Add To Doubts About Vikings Playoff Potential
The Minnesota Vikings debuted as the fourth choice to win the NFC North at FanDuel.
Since then, nothing that has transpired would suggest that they will finish ahead of the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, or the Chicago Bears in their division this season.
On Wednesday, things went from bad to worse in Minnesota.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss the entire 2024 season after he underwent a full repair of the meniscus in his right knee.
Initially, the hope was that the injury wasn’t severe enough to make him miss the entire year, but the surgery revealed that a full repair was necessary.
Veteran Sam Darnold was always expected to start for Minnesota, but the team’s depth at the position is brutal with Nick Mullens as the backup.
As if the McCarthy injury wasn’t bad enough, wide receiver Jordan Addison had to be carted off the field at practice after he hurt his ankle.
Thankfully, the injury doesn’t appear to be as bad as it initially looked.
The Vikings have a solid pair of starting receivers in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
However, their depth is questionable with Jalen Nailor and Trent Sherfield Sr. next up at the position, which could be a problem if either Jefferson or Addison had to miss extensive time.
At full strength, an offense that features Darnold, Jefferson, Addison, running back Aaron Jones and tight end T.J. Hockenson looks pretty good on paper.
The Vikings will need every one of those important pieces to stay healthy to be competitive in the NFC North.
They’ve already suffered some key losses on both sides of the football.
Simply put, Minnesota can’t afford any more injuries.
The Vikings are the sixth choice to finish with the NFL’s worst regular season record at +1200.
However, their schedule out of the gates is particularly tough following a Week 1 date with the New York Giants, which is why Minnesota is the fourth choice to be the last remaining winless team at +850.
The Vikings to go over 7.5 wins is +134 at FanDuel.
Under 7.5 wins is -168.
Minnesota to finish with any one of exactly five wins, exactly six wins, or exactly seven wins can be found at +600 odds in FanDuel’s exact win totals market.
The Vikings to make the playoffs is up to +270 at FanDuel.
While I’m not ready to fade them in the under 7.5 wins market at -168, there might be value betting them to be the league’s last remaining winless team at +850.
If they lose to the Giants in Week 1, things could get rocky.
Then again, New York is currently -1.5 for that game, which means it’s essentially a toss-up.
It’s been a rough start to the season for Vikings fans.
Unfortunately, things could get worse before they get better in Minnesota.
Hopefully for the team and their fans, they can make it to Sunday September 8th without any other significant injuries.